General Rules

1. No cheating - This contest has a zero-tolerance cheating policy. Any evidence of cheating may lead to immediate disqualification, or any other punishment deemed appropriate by competition staff.
2. No calculators, rulers, compasses, protractors, or other aids are permitted.
3. You may not use the Internet as a resource at any point during a test.
1. In order to help enforce this, we may require individuals to provide a solution for a problem during the competition - so keep track of your work!
4. The team divisions are determined by the highest grade level amongst the team members. Teams with 1 or more 8th graders will be in the Stallion division, teams with 7th graders and below will be in the Colt division, and teams with 6th graders and below will be in the Foal division. Teams may choose to compete in a higher division, if they’d like.

Answer Formatting Rules

1. Carry out any reasonable calculations. For instance, you should evaluate any expressions which will take negligible time to evaluate (such as 1/2+1/3). You don't have to carry out unreasonable calculations, including large powers (e.g. 7⁸), large factorials, large products, and trigonometric functions which cannot be expressed in terms of radicals.
2. Write rational numbers in lowest terms. Decimals are also acceptable, provided they are exact.
3. Move all square factors outside radicals. For example, write 3√7 instead of √63.
4. Denominators need to be rationalized. For example, write 1/√2 as √2/2 instead.
5. Do not express an answer using a repeated sum or product.
6. Here are some examples of simplified answers, and examples of unsimplified answers with simplified equivalents:
   
   

Potential Topics Covered

Disclaimer: While most problems should fall within the scope of these topics, there may be a few that are not.

ROUND 1: Mounting Mayhem (Puzzle)

1. The Mounting Mayhem Round will consist of a series of progressively harder logic puzzles. Students will have 15 minutes to learn the rules and basic strategy of the puzzles, then 60 minutes to solve as many of them as possible.
2. Puzzles often require out-of-the-box thinking although all topics can readily be understood and grasped by middle schoolers.
3. Harder puzzles will be worth more points, but these puzzles will be longer and/or require more creativity — you must decide what problems to focus your time on to optimize your team score.

ROUND 2: Herding Hexes

1. The “Herding Hexes” Round will consist of 26 questions to be solved in 45 minutes.
2. The questions will be laid out on a grid of connected hexagons, with more difficult problems being located furthest from the center.
3. Your score in the round will be determined by the problems you get correct, with bonus points available for having more correct answers connected within the grid!
4. You are not necessarily expected to solve all the questions in this round within the allotted time. Instead, we encourage you to strategize how you might use your time to maximize your points!

ROUND 3: Mystery Mare

1. The Mystery Mare round is exactly that — a mystery! The rules of the round will be revealed on competition day.
2. Hints about the nature of the round may be revealed as the competition date nears.

ROUND 4: Gallop

1. The Gallop Round will consist of 27 questions to be solved in 60 minutes.
2. The questions will be divided into 9 sets of 3 questions each, and you must submit the answers to one set before accessing the problems for the next. This means you must strategize when to submit each set (incomplete or not) to ensure you get access to as many questions as possible.
3. The problems will get progressively more difficult, and later problems will be worth more points.
4. Submissions will be scored immediately and a live score of all participating teams will be available during the competition. Prepare for the adrenaline rush!